System for transferring passengers and freight to and from moving railway-trains.



No. 828,340. .PATENTED AUG. 14, 1906.

w. H. R105. SYSTEM FOR TRANSFERRING PASSBNGERS AND FREIGHT TO AND FROMMOVING RAILWAY TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 22,1 905- qu7 flmme m5 NORRIS PE'rERspa.WASNINGTDN, D- c.

PATENTED AUG. 14, 1906.

W. H. RICE.

SYSTEM FOR TRANSFERRING PASSBNGERS AND FREIGHT TO AND FROM MOVINGRAILWAY TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED DBO 22,1905.

a SHEETS-SHEET z.

THE NORRIS PETERS 5a.. WASHINGTON, n. c

No; 828,340. PATENTBD AUG. 14, 1906.

W. H. RICE.

SYSTEM FOR TRANSFERRING PASS ENGERS AND FREIGHT TO AND FROM MOVINGRAILWAY TRAINS.

APPLIUATION FILED DEG-22,1905- 3 SHEH'1'S-SHET 3.

THE NORRIS PETERS 5a., WASHINGTON, v. c.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. RICE, OF BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN.

SYSTEM FOR TRANSFERRING PASSENGERS AND FREIGHT TO AND FROM MOVINGRAILWAY-TRAINS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 14, 1906.

Application filed December 22, 1905. Serial No. 293035.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. R1012, a citizen of the United States,residing at Benton Harbor, in the county of Berrien and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Systemsfor Transferring Passengers and Freight to and from MovingRailway-Trains, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a novel and useful system forenabling railwaylines to receive passengers at any station upon theirlines and to place such passengers, together with their baggage,express, and mail matter and the like upon any given train of movingcars without the necessity of stopping the train and to place passengersand their baggage and express and mail matter at any way-station alongthe line without materially lessening the speed of the train, theseresults being accomplished by means which are simple and convenient andwhich may be maintained at such slight additional expense that it willbe more than compen sated for by the economical advantages arising fromthe speed and convenience with which the passengers, baggage, andexpress or! mail matter may be handled.

For a full description of the invention andi the merits thereof and alsoto acquire a knowl-; edge of the details of construction of the meansfor effecting the result reference is to be had to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings, in which-- i Figure 1 is a planview of a complete train, illustrating one embodiment of my invention.Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are plan views of a portion of a railway-lineemploying a single main track and illustratingin different positions,respectively, a through-train and the means for transferring passengers,baggage, and the like from said train to the station and from thestation to the train without materially lessening the speed of thetrain. Fig. 5 is a similar view illustrating the invention as applied toa double-track railway Corresponding and like parts are referred toin'the following description and indicated in all the views of thedrawings by the same reference characters.

In the present instance the train is made up of a locomotive L and sixcars coupled thereto. The car 1 next to the locomotive and its tender isintended for the reception of 5 the baggage of every through passengerwho boards the train at the start of'the latter from one terminal, andit may be a combinationcar, if desired, and contain, as well as thebaggage, all other express matter and mail and the like. The next car,No. 2, is a passengercar for the reception of through passengers only.Car No. 3 is intended for the reception of passengers who are comingfrom or going to some intermediate station along the line. Car No. 4 ispreferably a combined baggage and passenger car and contains all of thebaggage and express and mail matter except that which is contained incar No. 1. Cars Nos. 5 and 6 are detachable cars, whichare designed 'toreceive and contain only the passengers,

baggage, mail, freight, and express matter, and the like that areintended to be deposited at an approaching next station. Cars Nos. 5 and6 are similar to the cars 5 and 6 and are designed, as hereinafterspecifically described, to receive the outgoing passengers from astation and to be subsequently cou-' pled to the car 4 in place of thecars 5 and 6 after they have been detached therefrom without materiallylessening the speed of the train.

S designates an intermediate station which may be located at any side ofthe main-line track or between the tracks if the railroad is adouble-track road.

7 designates in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 a siding which extends along theside of the station S and is connected to the main line 8, preferably bymeans of two crossovers 9 and 9 10 designates a dead-end siding which isconnected to the main siding 7 at either end of the same.

The preferred operation of my improved system for handling passengers,freight, mail and express matter, and the l ke is as follows, referencebeing now had particularly to Figs. 2, 3, and 4, wherein are illustratedthe train and an intermediate station and its accessories for asingle-track road.

When the train is made up at the outgoing terminal, it includes cars 1,2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, before described, the through baggage or freight orother similar matter being contained in the car No. 1 and all throughpassengers in car No. 2. Passengers that are to alight at someintermediate station along the road are received in car No. 3, while incar No. 4, which may be a combined car, are received the baggage andexpress and freight and the like that are to be deposited at someintermediate station, as well as being used for some passengers. Car No.5, which s in advance of car No. 6, or both cars Nos. 5 and 6, are to beprovided with independent motive power installed therein, and it iswithin the purview of my invention to use for such independent motivepower either steam, electricity, gasolene, or any desired prime mover,together with an independent brake system. The train thus equippedstarts on its run. Upon reaching a point at a predetermined distancefrom a station at which any articles or' passengers are to be depositedall of the pas sengers for the said approaching station, with theirluggage and all mail, freight, and expressage and the like, are movedfrom cars Nos. 3 and 4 to cars Nos. 5 and 6, the luggage and otherarticles being preferably so moved and 6 are thus separated from therest of the train at the required distance and approach the stationpreferably by their own motive power, asbefore intimated, or by themomentum received from the moving train, and

upon nearing the station they pass into the crossover 9 the switchthereof being previously set for this purpose, and then pass from saidcrossover onto the siding 7 and stop at the proper point alongside thestation to discharge their passengers, and the luggage and otherarticles.

In the meantime cars Nos. 5 and 6, which, like cars 5 and 6, areself-propelled, have been standing at the station S and have receivedtheir complement of passengers and their luggage, express, freight, andmail-matter, as may be desired, that are intended to be transferred tothe train thathas been disconnected from the cars 5 and 6 and whichtrain has passed the station or is passing the station withoutmaterially lessening its speed.

-At the proper moment the said cars 5 and 6 move forward from the siding7 onto the crossover 9 and then onto the main track 8, the train havingpassed by this time the point where the crossover 9 enters upon the maintrack 8. Having moved upon the main track 8, the cars 5 and 6 by theirown motive power overtake the train, and the car 5 is coupled to the car4, and then the independent motive power of the car 5 is shut ofi. Thepassengers then transfer from the car 5 into the car 4 or car 3 or car2, if they are through passengers for the opposite terminal of the line,and the baggage and the like is also transferred in a manner which ismanifest. It is of course to be understood that the passengers that havetaken the train at the intermediate station S and expect to At thealight therefrom at the next station will remain in the car 5 instead oftransferring, and the same observation applies to the baggage and otherarticles. The cars 5 and 6 now become the cars which it is intendedshall be detached from the train at the next station, and so on untilthe train shall have arrived at its other terminal. This transfer ofindependent cars from one station to the next is continued until thecoming of a train from the opposite direction, when progression may bereversed in a manner hereinafter described, and the said detachable carsmay be placed in the same position occupied at the start of the firsttrain.

Referring now to Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings, I shall describemy invention embodied in a railroad having a double-track line. For thepurpose of illustration only I have designated the two tracks of theline as the west-bound track and the eastbound track. In this instanceone of the siding 7 a which performs the same function as the siding 7,before described, in addition to its use as a main track, and it isconnected to the other main track 8 by means of the two crossovers 9 and9. The two trains are presumed to be equipped with the same number andcharacter of cars before described with reference to Figs..2, 3, and 4.As the east-bound train approaches the station S and at the requisitedistance from said station the cars 5 and 6 are uncoupled therefrom andpass over the crossover 9 onto the other main track and siding 7 anddischarge their complement at the station S. If, however, there is awest-bound train at the station S or in such proximity thereto as toprevent'the cars 5 and 6 from approaching the station S from thecrossover 9*, the said cars 5 and 6 remain on the east-bound track untilthe east-bound train shall have passed, whereupon the said cars backover the other crossover 9 from the east-bound track and deposit theircomplement at the station S. In the mean time cars 5 and 6, which havereceived their complement at the station S on the west-bound track andmain siding7, as soon as the cars 5 and 6 are out of the way, backacross from the crossover 9 to the east-bound track 8 and are coupled tothe east-bound train from which the cars 5 and 6 have been disconnected.As to the west-bound train, the cars 5 and 6 thereof are also uncoupledtherefrom 'at the requisite distance from the station S, and their speedis materially lessened while the cars 5 and 6 on the waiting dead-endsiding 10 and which have received their complement from the station Sare started up and overtake the west-bound train, and as soon as theyare out of the way the west-bound uncoupled cars 5 and 6 may approachthe station S and discharge their load.

tracks constitutes for the other track a main ICC) It is evident thatmany modifications of the illustrated embodiment of my invention may bemade without departing from the scope of the invention, and theforegoing description of the operation is for the purpose mainly ofsetting forth the principle of the invention and how the same may becarried out under varying circumstances.

It will be obviously necessary for the train to lower its speed to suchan extent and for such a length of time as will make it possible for theindependent and detachable cars to effect the necessary coupling; butskilful handling will make this diminutionof speed comparatively slightand of brief duration. From the foregoing description, in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that my improved systemfor receiving and delivering the passengers and freight, baggage orexpress, or mail-matter toand from stations and rapidly-moving trainsaccomplishes an important saving of ti me, that schedules may bemaintained with more regularity than in the present condition, and thatthe wear and rack of the equipment caused by the frequent starts andstops is obviated, together with the great loss of power incidentalthereto.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. Theherein-described system of trans ferring passengers and the like to andfrom stations and rapidly moving trains, comprising a main track, adischarging and receiving point along said track, a siding for -saidmain track and having crossover connection therewith, and a train forsaid main track, said train including one or more cars provided withmotive power independent of the remainder of the train and designed tobe uncoupled therefrom so as to cross over from the main track to thesiding and from the siding to the main track to deposit their complementat the said discharging and receiving point and to also overtake thesaid train with the desired complement received at said point.

2. The herein-described system of transferring passengers and the liketo and from stations and rapidly moving trains, comprising a main track,receiving and discharging points along said main track, a sidingadjacent such point and having two crossover connections, one at eachend thereof with the main track, a train provided at its rear end withone or more self-propelled cars designed to be uncoupled therefrom andto pass over from the main track and one of the crossovers to the saidsiding to discharge their complement at the said discharging andreceiving p0int,'and one or more additional self-propelled cars designedto receive their complement at the discharging and rece1ving point andto pass from said siding over the other crossover onto the main trackand to overtake and be coupled to the said tram at the rear end thereofin substitution for the first-named self-propelled cars.

3. The herein-described system of transferring passengers and the liketo and from stations and rapidly moving trains, cornprising a maintrack, a receiving and discharging point along said track, a sidingadjacent to such point and connected at each end with the crossoverextending to the maln track, a waiting-siding connected to the mainsiding, and a train including one or more self-propelled cars at therear end thereof, said cars being designed to be uncoupled from theremainder of the train and to pass over one of the crossovers onto thesiding and one or more additional self-propelled cars designed to runupon the said waitingsiding and then upon the main siding and over oneof the crossovers to the main track, for connection to the rear end ofthe said train.

4. The herein-described system of transferring passengers and the liketo and from stations and rapidly-moving trains, com prising adouble-track road of which the two tracks have crossover connection witheach other, a receiving and discharging point along the road adjacent tosaid crossover and intermediate to the same, a waiting-siding connectedto one of said tracks, and trains provided at their rear ends with oneor more self-propelled cars designed to contain passengers, freight andthe like, and designed to be uncoupled from the trains and pass over thecrossovers to said receiving and discharging points and one or moreadditional selfpropelled cars designed to run upon the wa1ting-sidingand then upon one of the main tracks for connection to the said trains.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. RICE.

